Nymans

Nymans was made by three generations of the Messel family: Ludwig, a German-born stockbroker who bought the Sussex Weald estate in 1890 and began collecting rare trees and shrubs, his son Leonard, who inherited in 1915, and Leonard's daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse, who kept gardening after fire gutted the house in 1947. Leonard left Nymans to the National Trust in 1953. The garden is a sequence of rooms, from the Sunk Garden and the Wall Garden's summer borders to the rose garden and Lime Walk, and the roofless ruins are now planted as a garden in their own right; a few rooms of the surviving house are open, and the Play Glade keeps children busy. Reviewers praise the room guides, the two cafes, the second-hand bookshop and the artist in residence. Tips from visitors: dogs are limited to the woodland, cafe terrace and shop apart from set dog-friendly garden times, so the garden stays calm for small children; and the free car park fills quickly, so arrive early.